Cumbria Police have delt with over 97 car accidents in 12 hours on the road with numerous on the M6 between junction 36 (Kendal) and junction 40 (Penrith) due to unprecedented freezing rain which has covered the entire county.

Known accident blackspots include:

- A66 which is closed between County Durham (A1) and Cumbria (M6) due to numerous accidents blocking the road. ETA on reopening the road is still not known.

- M6 around junction 39 was especially bad with 8 separate accidents by 10am including a jacknifed lorry and numerous cars skidding off the road. Due to the altitude this area should be considered at high risk of ice throughout the day.

- The A684 Kendal around Kendal saw numerous accidents with drivers skidding off the road and is still considered at risk of serious ice.

- A66 west of Penrith (M6 J40) was partly closed due to a multiple car crash at the Reghead roundabout.

- In Haile near Egremont a two car crash closed a road although there were no reported injuries.

Cumbria: Having just driven from Penrith to Kendal this morning, I can confirm that the conditions on the M6 were treturous especially between J39 and J37 (Shap to Tebay) with most cars going at 30mph. The 45 minute journey took around 2 1/2 hours.

Lancashire: Around Lancaster there have been reports of many accidents due to ice and earlier a queue formed between Lancaster and Carnforth due to the number of accidents.

Northumberland: Police are still trying to re-open the Military Road after recovering an overturned van and many other high roads should be considered risky.

Rain not snow? There is a good piece on the BBC web site about why the rain is falling as freezing rain, which is all to do with a warm layer forming between us and the clouds.

Half Term: Hopefully by the time most start travelling for half term the ice and potential snow will have disappeared, but the forecasts keep changing on the latter so keep the eye on the BBC.

For traffic in the North of England see the Highways Agency traffic web site.

Half term driving warning for Cumbria & M6 is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

Travelodge really are offering rooms for just a tenner including London rooms so we recommend getting over to Travelodge very fast to grab yourself a bargain.

If you’re heading for Ireland, there are even better deals with 10 Euro rooms available for the same dates.

Do remember the rooms are likely to be very popular so best get one quick!

Click here for booking details.

Amazing Travelodge £10 sale starts today! is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

The centuries-old tradition that enables women to propose to their boyfriends on 29th February once left any man that refused a marriage offer on this day having to pay a hefty fine!These days there’s no obligation to say ‘yes’, but pick the right spot and he’ll be powerless to refuse.

Here are VisitEngland’s top romantic proposal packages and special locations. Now all you need is that diamond…

Propose to your lover at Lover

There is no more romantic setting than the New Forest for women to make the most of their traditional leap year rights and pop the question to their Valentines. The outstanding natural beauty – with idyllic woodland glades, charming towns and villages and miles of golden, sandy beaches – make it the perfect backdrop for any marriage proposal. It is also home to a place named Lover. You’ll find this peaceful forest hamlet at the northern tip of the New Forest. Lover Post Office used to do big business with cards sent from here in order to get the ‘Lover’ postmark. Why not get down on one knee and propose to your lover at Lover?

Woo at the zoo

Walk on the wild side and take your man to London Zoo, if you want somewhere unusual to propose. Check out the Titi monkeys at the ZSL London Zoo Rainforest, who really know what love is all about. They have incredibly strong bonds with one another, live in pairs and spend most of their time with their tails intertwined. Now that’s love!

Meanwhile, Blackpool Zoo is offering ladies a chance to pop the question at the sea lion show. Book a slot and at the end of the show stand up in front of the crowd and declare your love! If you’re shy, choose a little more privacy by venturing into the beautiful Lemur Wood to go down on one knee in the idyllic surroundings, if you don’t mind an audience of lemurs!

Be a Lady in Shining Armour

Create your own fairytale – complete with knights, damsels and jousting, at Warwick Castle. Its new proposal package offers loved-up lasses the chance to pop the big question on Leap Day, at one of the site’s most romantic spots – The Mound, commanding views over the Castle, historic Warwick and the Warwickshire countryside, or The Waterwheel on the River Avon. The package costs £29.02 per person and includes a glass of Champagne each and and two standard daytime admission tickets.

Don’t tell the groom… propose on a sand dune by the sea

Imagine this… a crisp spring day, the sound of the sea and golden sand. If you’ve dreamed of declaring your love on a beach, The Gallivant Hotel and Beach Bistro in Camber Sands are urging ladies to stop the prodding and take over the proposal duties themselves by popping the question. Every couple that gets engaged on the dunes can claim a complimentary glass of champagne at the hotel on the 29th when the big question has been asked. If you fancy getting married on the spot where you propose, surprise the groom with the venue as well and you can get a whopping 30% off your wedding. Continue with the beach theme and organise your wedding at the hotel where you can take your vows on the beach and enjoy a chic beach wedding at the hotel.

Take a loveboat for lovebirds

London RIB Voyages are transforming their famous speedboats into loveboats. Declare your love in style as you travel down the River Thames at 35 knots. Feel the wind in your hair, drop to one knee, pop the question and grab a kiss under Tower Bridge as you experience a quirky river tour of London’s historic sites. To make it extra special why not have a celebratory meal and book the River to Restaurant experience? Hightail it through London before a super swish drop off at a riverside restaurant for that perfect celebratory meal.

Cost of rib voyage from £60 per couple. The River to Restaurant service runs by private charter and is available all year round. The flat fee is £365 per boat, per hour.

Extreme romance orchestrated by cupid

The Scarlet Hotel in Cornwall will be pulling out all the stops for the 29th February and has recommended three memorable proposal packages plus ‘cupid’ will be on hand throughout the day to make sure that any proposals go smoothly and will be giving a bottle of natural fizz to every lady that proposes on the 29th. Choose from:

· Soak in a log fired seaweed hot tub overlooking the beach with a glass of fizz in hand. The team will leave you in peace for you to pick your moment to pop the question.

· A delicious, fire-side private dinner in a cliff top bell tent. The hotel chefs will prepare a three-course meal and arrange a bottle of fizz for you to enjoy in this special location.

· A candle-lit serenade for your loved one to guarantee a memorable proposal. The hotel’s cloister garden will twinkle with candles under the night sky and a talented acapella singer will help to set the mood with songs of your choice.

Prices start from £390-£430 per room depending on your choice of proposal package. Price is based on 2 people sharing a room on a dinner bed and breakfast basis. N.B Proposal packages are subject to availability and are dependent on the weather- there is a Plan B if the weather does take a turn for the worse!

Enjoy some exclusivity in a luxury country retreat

Any lady planning to propose at The Feathers hotel in Woodstock, Oxfordshire on 29th February will have exclusive use of the cosy Winter House, where they can snuggle-up under reindeer furs and indulge in a romantic candlelit dinner. The three-course dinner will be accompanied by a bottle of Laurent Perrier Rose Champagne and served by the couple’s personal butler. During the dinner, a rolling photo montage of the couple’s favourite memories will play on a large screen, so they can take a dreamy trip down memory lane to warm up their loved one before popping that all-important question. Guests can then cuddle-up in one of the Romantic Feature Suites for an overnight stay and wake up to a full English breakfast in bed the following morning.

Overnight package is £265 per person (including overnight stay, three course meal, Champagne, and breakfast). This package will be running throughout the year, from 29 February. It will be limited to one couple per night obviously to ensure “exclusivity”, but the package can booked any night of the year for 2012.

29th February: some ideas for ladies looking to propose in 2012 is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

Dickens Country, Kent

Dickens 2012 is an international celebration of the life and work of Charles Dickens, held to mark the bicentenary of his birth on 7 February 2012. Events will take place throughout the year in locations associated with Dickens’ life. Kent is where Dickens spent much of his childhood and where he lived out the final 13 years of his life. It’s where stories like Great Expectations and Pickwick Papers come alive, with many of the original settings surviving into the 21st century. For people in search of a Dickens experience, Kent is a place of tours and trails and of big vistas and little alleyways that inspired some of the world`s most enduring stories.

Shakespeare Country, Warwickshire

The World Shakespeare Festival will run from 23 April to 9 September 2012, celebrating how the world performs, teaches and engages with the works of William Shakespeare. This unprecedented celebration of England’s most celebrated playwright will form part of the London 2012 Festival and is sure to catapult Shakespeare Country to the top of the wishlist for many holidaymakers in 2012. Shakespeare Country has a wealth of things to see and do for all ages. Enjoy family attractions that all ages will love, visit stunning gardens, explore the history of its famous castles at Warwick and Kenilworth and historic houses and take in some heritage and culture. Shop ‘til you drop in quality independent shops and high street names before re-charging your batteries at the many cafes, tearooms, pubs and restaurants. As the sun sets there is plenty to keep you entertained including theatre, evening banquets, cinema and live entertainment.

Bronte Country, West Yorkshire and East Lancashire Pennines

A windswept land of heather and wild moors, it is hardly surprising that this region became the inspiration for the classic works of the Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Geographically, Bronte Country consists of the Pennine hills of West Yorkshire, as well as Kirklees and Calderdale. Unlike the pastural limestone valleys of the Yorkshire Dales which begin further to the north, the geology in Bronte Country is predominantly of Millstone Grit, a dark sandstone which lends the crags and scenery here an air of bleakness and desolation. Small wonder then, that this landscape fuelled the imagination of the Bronte sisters in writing their classic novels – including “Wuthering Heights” (which was reputedly inspired by the isolated moorland farmstead of Top Withens) and “Jane Eyre”.

Agatha Christie’s English Riviera

Ever since actor David Suchet tweeted that ITV would be filming the last five of Agatha Christie’s Poirot books in 2012, speculation has been growing about whether the English Riviera would be playing a starring role. This final outing for Christie’s dapper Belgian detective includes Dead Man’s Folly, based on Christie’s own home Greenway at Galmpton, near Brixham. Greenway was her family’s holiday home from the late 1930s until it was gifted to the National Trust in 2000. Greenway’s boat house is where the first victim is discovered, though in the book Greenway becomes Nasse House. The ferry landing, where the second body is found, is where the Greenway Ferry now drops off fans of ‘The Queen of Crime’ to visit the house which is open to the public. The other novels scheduled for filming are: Labours of Hercules; The Big Four; Elephants Can Remember and Poirot’s final case Curtain. Fans can enjoy a huge collection of exciting and glamorous ‘Queen of Crime’ events at the next annual Agatha Christie Festival from 9th – 16th September 2012.

Jane Austen’s Bath

If you’ve ever lost yourself in the adventures of Emma Woodhouse and Harriet Smith or lusted after Mr Darcy as he emerges sopping wet from that lake, you might well appreciate getting better acquainted with their creator, Jane Austen. There’s no better place to get an insight into the great author than in Bath, where she lived between 1801 and 1806. The city’s perfectly preserved Georgian architecture remains unchanged from the streets depicted in Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Head to The Jane Austen Centre, located in a Georgian town house just a few doors down from where she once lived. Inside, an exhibition of costumes, manuscripts, and film clips brings the author’s world to life and explores the city’s influence on her work. And after you’ve celebrated the life and times of Bath’s most famous resident, it’s time to travel deeper into Regency times by heading up to the second floor and the Regency Tea Rooms. There, you’ll find fifteen varieties of loose leaf tea to sample – after which you’ll just have time to nip into the gift shop and pick up that ‘I Love Darcy’ T-shirt.

Keats House, London

Poet John Keats lived in this house with his friend Charles Brown from 1818 to 1820, and this is the setting that inspired some of Keats’ most memorable poetry. Here, Keats wrote ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, while sitting under a plum tree in the garden; he fell in love with Fanny Brawne, the girl next door. It was from this house that he travelled to Rome, where he died of tuberculosis aged just 25. The Heath Branch Public Library occupies the space where various outhouses once stood. The library was opened on 16th July 1931, and displays some artefacts from the house, including the engagement ring Keats offered to Fanny Brawne and a copy of Keats’ death mask.

A.A Milne’s East Sussex (Ashdown Forest)

AA Milne was a humourist and playwright who is remembered for his children’s books featuring Winnie-the-Pooh in Ashdown Forest. When Milne was just eight years old his first article appeared in the school magazine, describing a walking tour of Sussex and Ashdown Forest. Ashdown Forest became the setting for Milne’s stories inspired by his son and his toy animals. In Ashdown Forest you can find the setting of many of Christopher Robin and friends’adventures, including Roo’s sandpit and the North Pole. Owl’s tree in Hundred Acre Wood was really a beech tree in 500 Acre WoodPoohsticks Bridge was originally called Posingford Bridge and was built in 1907; it can be found in Posingford Wood near Upper Hartfield. Disney helped fund repairs to the bridge in 1999. A memorial to Milne and Shepard can be found near the ‘enchanted place’. To visit the places from the Pooh stories, download a map from the Ashdown Forest website or take a tour of Pooh Country.

Beatrix Potter’s Lake District

Beatrix Potter is best known for her beautifully illustrated children’s books of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and friends. She spent many childhood holidays in the Lake District, an area that was a huge influence on her later writing. Squirrel Nutkin sailed on Derwentwater, while Hawkshead was the setting for The Tale of Johnny Townmouse. With the profits from her highly successful publications, Beatrix Potter bought Hill Top farm, as well as other hill farms and estates in the Lake District. When she died in 1943 she left 14 farms, sheep and 4000 acres of land to the National Trust. To follow in the real-life Potter’s footsteps, take a trip to Brockhole, The Lake District Visitor. This was the home of Beatrix’s cousin Edith who married merchant William Gaddum. According to letters, Beatrix Potter and her husband came to Brockhole for the Gaddums’ golden wedding anniversary celebrations in 1936. The film “Miss Potter”, available on DVD, and starring Oscar winner Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, has brought a surge of interest in the writer’s Lake District connections especially in the filming locations of Loughrigg Terrace and Loughrigg Tarn, Grasmere and Yew Tree Farm, Coniston.

Bram Stoker’s Whitby

With its imposing Abbey looming from the cliff tops, age-old cobbled streets, Dracula-inspired sights, sea mists drenched in folklore, and picturesque houses, the northeast fishing town of Whitby was the atmospheric inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. For a guided-tour with extra bite, join the Bram Stoker Dracula Experience and hear spooky stories about Whitby and Stoker trivia on this walk-through attraction. Alternatively, you could load up on garlic at dinner and climb the 199 steps to St Mary’s Churchyard by moonlight. Dracula fans will love the Bram Stoker International Film Festival, held this year from 25th – 28th October 2012. This festival of scary flicks is held every year and haseverything a gore enthusiast could want – including screenings of classic and new horror movies, Q&A sessions with directors and an awards ceremony (think the Oscars, but scarier). Climax to the four-day scare-fest’ is the Vampire’s Ball – an extravaganza that promises illusionists, magic and distinctly dark surprises.

Lewis Carroll’s Oxford

The famed author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll spent much of his life teaching Maths at Christ Church College in Oxford. Here he met the Dean of the College and his family. He built up great friendships with the Dean’s daughters and it was Alice Liddell, the younger daughter, who is said to be the inspiration behind his magical stories. Besides touring Christchurch College, visitors can see Alice’s Shop, where Alice Liddell, used to buy sweets. Additionally, the Museum of Oxford has some of Alice’s personal items on display alongside the first edition books and the original illustrations. Meanwhile, the University Museum of Natural History is a monument to the natural world, and has stone statues of various animals and plants on display – these creatures inspired the author to include them in his famous stories, most notably the dodo. Carroll began to tell tales that we now recognise as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on boat and picnic trips on the River Isis with Alice and her family. Intrigued by the stories he told, Alice asked Carroll to write them down. Years later the complete Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published, much to the world’s delight. Each year, Oxford turns into Wonderland for a day to mark the first telling of Alice’s Adventures of Wonderland on 4th July 1862. 2012 marks 150 years from the first storytelling and so a full programme of special events, walks and talks are being planned for the city over the weekend of 7th/8th July 2012.

The inspirational settings behind some of the country’s best-loved literature is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

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Useful links:
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Win a Cornish garden break for two! is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

The sale opens on Thursday 9th February at 6am so better set the alarm clock for 3 days time.

That is not a typo – they really are offering Travelodge rooms for just a tenner, ten quid or even a Paul Mckenna if you’re on Albert Square (we do recommend trying cash, not magicians as payment however).

Whatever currency you use, those are seriously cheap rooms and worth grabbing especially if you plan to be part of the 2012 Olympics or perhaps want to get as far away from the games as possible!

The offer does exclude central London between 27th July to 12th August but with the London tube and bus network, these will still be excellent value for money for visiting London this Summer.

If you’re heading for Ireland, there are even better deals with 10 Euro rooms available!

Do remember the rooms are likely to be very popular so best get one quick – click here for more details.

£10 Summer sale spectacular from Travelodge is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

The luxury Knightsbridge hotel seems to be trying to recreate one of the many legends of Marilyn Monroe by giving guests the chance to bath in over 120 bottles of Champagne costing between a “reasonable” £4000 for the Louis de Custine Brut to a rather eccentric £25,000 for Dom Perignon Vintage!

Naturally guests also have a butler on hand to serve a glass or two of Champagne presumably at a rather chilly 7′C, although there is no information on whether the bath will be giving customers goosebumps too.

For those with the sortof credit card which allows for such luxuries, could we perhaps suggest taking a look at the top 10 new luxury hotels on our sister blog as hotel and flights combined would likely be slightly more affordable.

For more details, contact the Cadogan Hotel in Knightsbridge.

More London Resources:
Places to visit in London
Hotel accommodation in London

Ultimate Valentines Day Champange “bubble bath” at the Cadogan Hotel is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

1) The Low Wood Hotel on the banks of Windermere sits in the heart of Wordsworth’s English Lake District with magnificant views across Windermere Lake and the Langdale Fells.

The famous daffodils might still be sleeping around the 14th February, but whether you decide to join them with a long romantic snuggle up in bed or get out your walking shoes and explore the magnificance of the English Lake District, you’re assured of a break to remember with a romantic dinner at this fabulous four star Lake District hotel.

2) The Gosforth Park hotel offers four star luxury set within 12 acres of lush parklands, close to Newcastle-upon-Tyne offering a true romantic setting and convenient location for couples in what many surveys have suggested is one of the most romantic parts of the country.

As well as offering a relaxed environment and romantic setting for your perfect Valentines night with the very special AA Rosette awarded restaurant, the hotel also has a range of facilities ideal for this special night including a relaxing sauna, indoor pool and a range of beauty treatments available. Plus for the more energetic there is always the tennis court and gym.

3) The Legacy Falcon Inn in Stratford-upon-Avon neatly takes us from the romantic poems of Wordsworth to possibly the romantic playright of them all – William Wordsworth. This four star 16th Century coaching inn offers possibly the most romantic of all the locations in our list, offering you two the chance to explore the home and inspiration for Romeo & Juliette.

After wandering through Stratford itself, you can sit down to a wonderful meal at the rosette-awarded hotel restaurant in one of Stratford’s premier hotels.

4) The Cambridge Menzies Hotel is set in over 200 acres of lush grounds offering one of the best places to just get away on romantic walks, with easy access to the historic city of Cambridge. Guests can relax in the 16m swimming pool, Nordic sauna room and steam room, then dine out in the hotel’s AA Rosette Awarded restaurant to experience the true romantic meal for two. With dinner and hotel packages from only £72 per person for four star luxury, this is also one of the most affordable dining packages around.

5) The Holiday Inn Bloomsbury is located right in the heart of London’s theatreland with the British Museum and London Zoo also close by. Ideally suited for romantic breaks this Valentines Day, the hotel offers affordable four star luxury accommodation and superb dining in the Junction Restaurant.

Romantic meals for two for this Valentines Day is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

The Up Helly Ya festival is unique to Shetland and occurs every year on the last Tuesday in January to celebrate the end of Yule season (a sortof European end of Christmas celebration).

Origins: Originally the celebration consisted of dragging burning barrels of tar through the streets as is still customary in a few places today, but around 1874 this was banned from the island and the Up Helly Ya torchlight festival began instead.

Today the festival involves thousands of islanders parading through the streets of Lerwick, the island’s biggest town, carrying burning torches ultimately towards a Viking Longboat which is burned in a ritual symbolising the island’s rich connections with the Vikings and Scandinavia.

Thousands more tourists come to the islands to see this festival which has become a welcome Winter tourist boost for the islands, but true to their traditions, the festival is essentially unchanged despite the numbers of visitors from all around the world.

Oddities: One of the slightly odd aspects of Up Helly Ya is that women are not traditionally allowed in the main procession which causes quite a number of the men to dress up in women’s clothes to even out the numbers.

Update: There are various activities which take place throughout the day. Below is a screenshot we took from the official webcam (link below) around 10am this morning:

To watch the festival click here for the Up Helly Ya webcam and there’s a lot more information on the Up Helly Ya web site.

If you’re planning to visit Shetland for next year’s festival, there are quite a few hotels on Shetland plus quite a lot of visitor attractions in Lerwick.

Up Helly Ya – Live webcam from Shetland is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

However, if you’re looking for a holiday destination with really quick broadband and don’t want to be sat indoors next to the wi-fi box, then head for the area around St. Newlyn East in Cornwall which is trialing a 4G Internet connection giving speeds in theory between 100Mbits and 1Gbit.

In reality speeds rarely reach the theoretical maximums, but residents and holiday makers in the area have reported steady speeds of 7Mbits which is still significantly quicker than most residential Internet connections!

The only hitch is the trial is currently only planned to run until June this year but has already been extended and might well be extended through the Summer again as the company behind it “Everything Everywhere” test the technology further. The village is around 2 miles south of Newquay in Cornwall.

More Newquay links:
Holiday cottages around Newquay
Visitor attractions around Newquay

Cornwall gets 4G Internet for smartphones & tablets is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog